Review: Monsters University

I liked Monsters University, maybe it wasn't as good as the first one, but it was still a very good movie. Pixar in general has issues with making sequels, I believe that is because a lot of the humor in a Pixar film comes from the initial wit of the concept, toys that are alive, rats that can cook, and of course big snarly beasts that clock in and out ever day. That concept itself is one of the things that makes Pixar films so appealing, they very clearly acknowledge the humor in the concept and use it to fuel the jokes and ultimately propel the story. Having said that, I think that "Monsters University" manages to build upon an already strong ground in the world of "Mosters, Inc." and for this I commend them, the universe of he first film certainly had many more jokes to make and opening that up to a college environment helped in that way. The story was weak, though, as it was very predictable, Mike and Sullivan are shown very early on to have strengths that compliment one another's weaknesses, so of course they'll end up working together. When you add in that this is a prequel about two people who ultimately become best friends, there isn't much to tell. I feel as though the writers wasted what could have been a strong b story, that is the Randall story. Randall begins as a similar character to Mike, same ambition and attitude, maybe not as smart, but scarier for sure. As the film progresses Randall becomes less and less interested in Mike's friendship as he becomes a "popular monster" and a member of the esteemed fraternity "Roar Omega Roar" . There is a lot of potential there to set up the eventual rivalry between Randall and Sullivan or the bully relationship between Randall and Mike, a bit that I believe was wasted in the film. Overall I was impressed that the film was able to amuse me as much as it was, the "scare cards" being a running gag was amusing to me, as it reminded me of the Captain America cards from "The Avengers". "Monsters University" did a good job keeping the Pixar spirit alive and was a nice use of a sequel to kill time before "The Good Dinosaur" scheduled for release next year. Although I groaned at some of the jokes, it was nice to be transported back to the world of the "Monsters, Inc." that I loved so much as a child, and have been wanting more of ever since.